It was Valentine’s Day and Andrew’s first payday and we wanted to go out. For a long time we’d planned on going out, but even that was not early enough to secure a dinner reservation in this town on the big night. I had no idea Valentine’s Day was such a big deal, that all the nice restaurants would be booked weeks in advance and they would charge extra for special meals. It was business as usual at The Kingfish, however. Andrew went to work early so he could leave in time to pick me up and race over to the restaurant to stand in the line, which stretched around the block a half hour before the place opened.

We were lucky. The couple just ahead of us was offered the last seat, the bench in the front window, and they declined, preferring to wait in the bar for the next regular table. The bar seat was offered to us and we knew better and took it. ("I don’t mind being the model for how to eat your food!") I heard the hostess tell the couple behind us the wait would be one hour and 45 minutes. Many people who had waited in line opted to go elsewhere, but I don’t know where they thought they would go because any place in town that wasn’t booked solid would also have a long wait.

They served a red chocolate velvet cake for dessert, which was a luscious red and truly like velvet, if you can believe food can be so soft. It came blanketed in thick white frosting, with a handful of butterscotch whipped cream and a chocolate-dipped strawberry. It was so amazing we ordered another slice to go, and in the morning we ate it before walking down the hill to join the anti-war demonstration.

We met Pam along the way and Angela later. It was a truimphant experience to be among so many others, different and similar people, families and punks, collectively defying the orange alert to claim peace.

This quote by Hitler sounds a little familiar....

The crowd was huge and commandeered the route for hours. People brandished clever slogans and important points I hadn’t thought about. The most disturbing references I saw were quotes by Hitler or other Nazis which are startlingly similar to statements made by Bush.

The demonstration was good for local businesses. We all had to eat, and once downtown, why not shop a little? That’s what we did: Lunch at Shanghai Garden and then Andrew went shopping for pants.

It was a good weekend.